Urinary incontinence, which is a condition involving involuntary loss of urine, is a problem with very many patients, particularly female patients, throughout the world. Sometimes the problem is treated with surgery. However, when the patient can not receive surgery or suffers only from a partial loss of urine, the problem may be treated non-surgically by use of an internal (intra-urethral or intra-vaginal) or external device. A number of external female devices have been proposed in the art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,855 discloses a device for controlling urinary incontinence in a human female comprising a resilient pad configured to seal against and occlude the urethral meatus of the user. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,208. In both these devices, an adhesive is provided to seal the body of the device against the urethral meatus.
International Applications Nos. 96/39989, 96/39990 and 96/39991 each disclose a female urinary incontinence device in the form of a urethral cap with a partially deformable body portion, a hand gripping portion and a body contacting surface. The body portion defines a chamber which allows for a vacuum seal when applied to the patient's body.
Each of the above devices prevents urinary leakage by occluding the external urethral orifice and each has to be removed by the patient to allow micturition.
It is desirable to have a device which satisfactorily prevents leakage and also facilitates micturition without the need to remove the device from the body of the patient. It has now been found that these desiridata may be achieved by a device which incorporates an easily operable valve which prevents leakage when closed and allows flow when open.